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. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. This is the county county work session of September 20,

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20, 20, 22, 20, 26, and I'm calling this meeting to order.

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Can I have approval of the minutes of the September 15th, 20, 26 work session, please?

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Semif.

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Second.

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All in favor say aye.

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Aye.

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Opposed?

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Minutes are approved.

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Our first presentation this morning, this afternoon, is presentation of proclamations, economic

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development week and manufacturing day.

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Can we meet down at the podium, please?

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Is there

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something down there?

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I'm hungry.

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Yes, ma'am.

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Good evening, everyone.

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Tonight, I'm going to read the proclamation

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for Economic Development Week in Maryland,

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September 28th through October 2nd, 2026.

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Whereas Economic Development plays a vital role in strengthening communities

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by creating jobs, attracting and retaining businesses,

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encouraging investment, supporting entrepreneurship

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ownership and building a strong and sustainable local economy, and whereas economic development

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week in Maryland provides an opportunity to recognize the important work of economic

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development professionals and organizations throughout the state who connect businesses

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with resources, foster partnerships, and create opportunities for continued economic growth.

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And Cecil County is committed to fostering a business-friendly environment that supports

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support existing employers, welcomes new investment, encourages innovation and entrepreneurship

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and creates opportunities for residents to live, work, and build their futures within

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our community.

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The Cecil County Office of Economic Development works diligently to promote the county as

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a premier location for business and investment while supporting our diverse economic sectors,

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including agriculture, manufacturing, small businesses,

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tourism, technology, and other industries that contribute to Cecil County's prosperity.

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Strong partnerships among government, businesses,

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educational institutions, workforce organizations, and community leaders

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are essential to developing a skilled workplace, expanding economic opportunities,

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and ensuring Cecil County remains competitive for generations to come.

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Cecil County joins the Maryland Economic Development Association and communities throughout the state in recognizing economic development week and celebrating the professionals, businesses, entrepreneurs, and community partners whose efforts strengthen Maryland's economy and improve the quality of life for its citizens.

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Now, therefore, let that, now, therefore, that we, the County Executive and County Council

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of Cecil County, do hereby proclaim September 28th through October 2nd, 2026, as Economic

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Development Week in Cecil County, and recognize the Cecil County Office of Economic Development,

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our local business community, and our many partners for their continued commitment to creating

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opportunities, encouraging investment and building a stronger and more prosperous

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Cecil County presented by the Cecil County Executive and the Council of Cecil County

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on this 20th, 8th day of September, 2026.

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I wasn't prepared to say words, but thank you so much.

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which we have an action-packed week scheduled for this economic development week, as you know,

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economic development is key to success of the county.

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We need to drive capital investment, create new jobs, grow the tax base.

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And so that's what we're here to do, and we appreciate the administrations and the county

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Council support for what we do. Most recently you approved the expansion of the enterprise

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zone for innovation hub and we're really excited about that. We expect we'll be back for

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another expansion in the spring for a different project but again very important to the future

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of Cecil County. So thank you so much. I know we have another

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the documentation. It's a big week for us separate

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photos so

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thankfully

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they got

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they let me read this one since I've been in manufacturing for the last 20 years

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so National Manufacturing Day October 2nd 2026 whereas each year the first

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Friday of October is designated as National Manufacturing Day across the United States.

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And whereas manufacturing makes a significant contribution to the national, state, and local

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economy, and whereas Cecil County is a major contributor to the manufacturing industry in

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the region and is fortunate to be home of many world-class and diverse manufacturing companies.

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And whereas manufacturing accounts for over 5,000 jobs within the county and represents

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approximately 12% of Cecil County's workforce.

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And whereas the manufacturing companies located in Cecil County add to the vitality and

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prosperity of our community providing high paying quality jobs.

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Now therefore, be it hereby resolved that we, the county executive and

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county council of Cecil County, hereby recognize the efforts of our local manufacturers.

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And reaffirm the positive impact they make on the economy in Cecil County.

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by proclaiming October 2nd, 2026, as manufacturing day in Cecil County.

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I'll

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say a couple of things.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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All right, so manufacturing day is extra special.

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We'll be doing a press release for this as well.

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But we have some great manufacturers here, large, global ones like Northrop Brumman, just

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had their ribbon cutting on their new building, their Propulsion Innovation Center, 57,000 square feet,

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going to house their engineers. So, increasing their job count. So, that's very exciting. They've got additional growth

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going to be happening next year. They're getting enterprise-owned certification application ready. They're already in the zone, but they're getting prepared for that new development.

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We have WL Gore, employees over 3,000 people in the county, it's our largest employer.

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And we have Taroumo Medical and Cardiovascular collectively, they employ 1,600 people in the county.

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So we've got those major ones and then we have all types of little ones from aquifin, timely products, colonial metals,

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goals, tim plastics but there's all kinds of innovation and manufacturing here so we're

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a lot more than what people see riding down the roads and we're lucky to have a very

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diversified economy and so thanks so much and we just want everybody to celebrate with

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us next week. All this good stuff that's happening in our county and across the state.

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Thank you.

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Okay,

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we're ready now for presentations. Our first presentation this afternoon to Cecil County Public Library, Executive Director Rachel Wright. Rachel, come on up. Thank you for being here.

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What I was here last, which I guess was for the budget presentation, I was told keep

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it brief, six minutes, come back another time to do the updates.

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I may or may not be looking at Chick when I say this.

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So hopefully you have pronounced, I guess, of the presentation in front of you so it's not

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too many slides.

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You should all be able to keep up even if you're not seeing it on the screen.

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So good afternoon, Council President Miller, Vice President Mephli and the Tire Council.

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Thank you again for the opportunity to share exciting updates from CISO County Public

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Library.

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We really have had such a wonderful summer.

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We're looking forward to a lot of things happening this fall and so really pleased to be here

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to share these updates with you.

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Wonderful, magically appeared.

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Thank you, Christine.

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So I want to start with the summer.

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Today is the first day of fall and so we are celebrating summer success at the library.

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This is our infographic which details all of the ways back one.

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We engage with the community this summer.

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We engage children, teen and adults and we have lots of stories of success to share.

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Those summer reading is often seen as a youth program.

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This year, as you can see, our adults were out in full force,

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and so we had more than 1,000 adults registered

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for summer reading with us this year.

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This is critical and really important to literacy in our community

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because engaging adult readers allows them to serve

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as really important role models for our youth

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as we want to continue to engage youth in reading and learning throughout the summer.

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So we're excited for that development and looking forward to building on that success,

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as we move into winter reading, which is just a few months away.

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Something else we're celebrating in terms of our summer reading is the number of youth readers

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who are registered with our program this year.

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As you can see here, we had 3677 kids and teens who all told red for 1.7 million minutes

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this summer.

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This is critical for ensuring that kids, youth, teens are engaged in summer reading and

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learning, research shows and evidence proves that when they do engage in reading and learning

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throughout the summer, they're better prepared to return to school when the school year returns

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to be in session. So, with increases over the past several years, and in 16 percent increase

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this year, we are past our previous pre-COVID numbers. So, we're really excited to be building back

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and seeing that with all of our summer readers. And finally, we are proud to say that our youth

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stay engaged in the program throughout the summer.

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That's one of our goals is to develop sustained reading habits.

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We don't want them to do all of their reading

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in the first couple of weeks of summer

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and to say that they're finished.

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So we build the program.

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And so at the 50-day mark,

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we had 35% increase in all age groups

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who were still engaged in reading and learning at the library.

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So we know this is going to make a difference in their lives

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and as they return to school.

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And there are lots of other ways and exciting things

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to celebrate on there as well,

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including our partnership with Cecil County Public Schools,

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which makes it possible for us to serve 879 lunches

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to youth this summer in Elkton and Northeast.

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And of course, more than 7,000 people

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attended our programs this summer.

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So pictured on the next slide then,

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is just a sample of, oops, maybe they're out of order,

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my apologies. So pictures of our programming, including start-up CISOL, which is our teen

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entrepreneurship program. We are very appreciative of the support, certainly of the Office of

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economic development with

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Sandra Edwards. I didn't even plan that. And Rebecca Clark who served as judges for our program and our annual showcase this year.

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Something else we were busy with this summer was opening our sixth story trail. This one is at the Northeast Community Park. And so as you can see here on our map, we have pretty good coverage around the county of our story trails. As a reminder, our story trails bring stories and literacy

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to our parks, so families can engage with stories while they're spending time outdoors.

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So families are invited to hop skip or jump or run their way through a story.

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And we've received really wonderful feedback from our families.

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This is just a couple examples of that who really appreciate the opportunity to be creative,

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to practice their reading, and to get exercise all at the same time.

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One of our families here expressed how fun the story trails are for the whole family

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and that they were going to find all the story trails and visit them.

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So we were one step ahead of them.

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And so on the next slide, this brings me to our newest literacy initiative,

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which is our story trailblazers.

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This is kicking off this week.

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You do have a copy of what is our story trailblazer passport in your packet.

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And so this program is really designed to encourage families to visit all of the story trails in our county.

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They take their passports.

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They bring them into our branches on the bookmobile as they visit.

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They get a customized stamp.

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And then if they visit all six, they can earn a wooden story trail blazer keychain.

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And so passports will be available for pickup at all of our branches on the bookmobile.

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and thanks to Sandy Turner, can also be picked up at Cecil County's Tourism Office in Northeast.

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So again, just a really exciting way for families to engage in literacy and learning

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and stories even when they're out at our parks in Cecil County.

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In recent weeks, our adults, of course, have been engaged in a number of specially planned programs,

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including several that were centered on honoring the 25th anniversary of 9-11.

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We brought the community together in remembrance of this day with a 9-11 rolling memorial,

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a film screening of We Remember Voices of 9-11, and a powerful panel discussion

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where local leaders recounted their memories of that day.

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These are all events. I know some of you and the county executive attended as well.

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also thank you for your support for those programs.

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In June of this year, we were the only Maryland institution awarded a national endowment

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for the arts big read grant.

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So in support of that, our team has been planning and hosting a series of programs for the

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community to explore, appreciate, and learn more about Appalachian culture.

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This past Saturday, we welcomed more than 300 people in the morning to Northeast for the

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Taste of Appalachia event, where they were treated to delicious food, artisan demonstrations,

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music, dance, and even a sighting or two of Bigfoot.

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Also on display currently, in Northeast is the Mountain Traditions Photography Project,

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which incorporates more than 50 photos that are centered on Appalachian people,

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culture and landscapes. So certainly invite you to come in and take a look at that.

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And then to, of course, attend any of our programs that we'll be planning throughout the rest of the year,

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and into the spring in support and using funds provided by that grant.

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And then, finally, there's Elkton.

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So, these photos show a side of Elkden that few have seen before. On the left, we closed

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the branch at the end of August in preparation for its full renovation and expansion. And

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though this definitely signals an end of an era, we are really excited about the future

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of Elkden and this branch, and so on the right with our goal of continuing to serve

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the Elkden community, we have opened our pop-up library location on Bridge Street.

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We opened last Tuesday, so as you can see here, it is a welcoming space.

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It feels very much like a bookstore or a library, and so the community is invited to come

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in to browse, to check out bestsellers, new releases,

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popular titles for kids, teens and adults.

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So in our first week, we welcomed 380 visitors

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to our pop-up location.

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And in addition to this, we are also continuing

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to program in the community.

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We're hosting an after-school library lounge

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for teens at the community center in Elkton.

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And in our first six days, we've seen 62 teens there

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in the after-school hours, so our teen librarians are very excited to see them and to continue

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to connect with and provide services to our teens.

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And plans are underway to get our mobile, our tech mobile setup to provide internet and

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computer access on Fridays in October from the parking lot at the where the pop-up location

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is.

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As for construction, we went out to bid this summer and we have selected the Mullen Contracting

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Company for the project.

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We issued a notice to proceed this past Friday and are excited that they will be on site

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soon to get started on the work that they will be doing there.

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So thank you again for your support for the library and all that we do and certainly for

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the opportunity to come here today and to provide some updates.

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Great question, yes. So on your infographic, when it says total visits, that includes visits

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to our branches and on to our bookmobiles and also programming where we do programs

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with our outreach vehicles, that's also included there.

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Okay, good, thank you very much.

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They're just an extension of the library,

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so we can count them in all that we do.

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Thank you.

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Any other questions or comments from Rachel?

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I appreciate the informational update,

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and I will forward to the renovation and output.

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Thank you.

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Yes, I wish we could just skip to the good part, yes.

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You done a great job,

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and you've got a lot of public input.

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I wish you all the best in the world.

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I think everything's going in the right direction.

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So, congratulations on all you do.

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Thank you very much.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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Any questions from the administration or?

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I'll just add, I think everything you're doing right now,

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you've been what the head of the library system

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for a little over what a year and a half.

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A year and a half.

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Something like you're doing a great job.

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Thank you.

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These are great projects that you pivoted to open up

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why the Elkton branch is going to be renovated.

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So we're looking for a good capital project

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and get that branch updated.

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That's great.

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All right.

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Any other questions or comments?

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If not, Rachel.

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No, I just appreciate what you're doing

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and thank you for giving us all this information.

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Thank you.

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I'll have a great day.

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Thanks for hearing.

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All right, you too.

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Thank you.

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Next up we'll move on to the digital infrastructure in Cecil County with the land use development director Steve O'Connor and Sandra.

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Good evening.

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Good evening.

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I will provide some opening remarks, County Council.

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This has been a work in progress over the last three to four months within the administration.

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We obviously wanted to look at where our current zoning was for digital infrastructure and data centers and come back to a presentation to county council to offer this as an introduction to get your input and both Sandra and Steve have led the efforts on this week.

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I think it's very appropriate that we're looking at this as as we're coming up on economic development week, these are projects that we look at as economic development and revenue producers for the county.

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We have no open applications for data centers in the county, so it's very appropriate that we set it up and say this is where we will allow them and what are the conditions that come with that.

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So I'll turn it over to both of them.

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Thank you, Dan.

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Thank you.

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Waiting for the presentation to load.

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Got it.

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I know many of us in this room were at the Maryland Association of Counties, Conference

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and Ocean City, and it was all above with data centers, and we've been to subsequent the

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Director of Administration, and my colleague, Steve O'Connor, we've been to subsequent

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conferences on our summits on data centers and you know what we really learned at the most recent

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summit was that data centers are really digital infrastructure. You can think of it as broadband,

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your utilities, your water and sewer because I left it there on the chair, which is odd,

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But it's a cell phone.

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We all have them.

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We're not getting rid of them.

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So it's part of our way of life

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and we need to move on with it.

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So my job here is to talk a little bit

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about the critical, being critical infrastructure

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and basically, like I said, the backbone

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of the digital economy.

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We've seen IT and cybersecurity

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security and around the defense industry and everything.

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It's so important and critical these data centers and digital infrastructure.

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Again, essential for national security supports local business and innovation, reliable digital

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infrastructure helps to track technology, company startups, remote work, and all of those

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things that, you know, we need to drive us forward, enhances public services, it provides

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opportunities for, you know, IT providers and all types of things around that. And it

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optimizes the grid and energy investments. You'll hear a little bit later from Director

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We're talking about here is going to be required on site power generation for our digital infrastructure.

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But again, all key points.

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So the economic impact of digital infrastructure is tax based diversification.

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They invest tens of millions to a billion dollars depending on the size and scale of a project and through the construction phase and then your personal property tax.

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There's so many jobs created by these through those phases.

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And then the, but the ongoing annual taxes that we collect from their capital investment and their personal property taxes is significant.

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So it helps with our fiscal stability, unlike housing projects that use more in services than they typically pay in taxes, we're not putting any kids to school for this.

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so it's good for our pocketbook. Construction long-term jobs. Again, there's

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temporary for construction jobs and there's significant on projects

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again depending upon the scale of a project but it is a boost for our skilled

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trades and contractors but once the site is operational, you know, they're not

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Not large job producers, and I think that's some of the negative things that we've heard

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about, but the jobs that they do create are highly technical, well-paying jobs.

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And then there's also the other, extraneous things like landscaping and building maintenance

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and all of those other types of things that go along with it in perpetuity.

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So, you have that ripple effect, like I said, local vendor service providers, your IT folks

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and maintenance contracts.

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So, it creates a steady indirect economy also and then let's see.

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So, data centers can show

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that we or a jurisdiction is, you know, poised and ready for what's next in the digital infrastructure.

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Their presence strengthens our competitiveness, accelerates innovation and position would position Cecil County as a strategic mid-Atlantic hub for technology-driven growth.

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both. It's really what's next in infrastructure and so what we're just trying to do is put some

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Those more touriums and things like that, we're just trying to get ahead of the curve, but have the foresight to know that these things are going to go somewhere they have to. And they make money for places like Loudon County, and believe me, we don't want to be Loudon County, but 40% of their budget is covered, their operational budget by the taxes generated from data centers in their county.

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So of course, nothing of that scalar magnitude is wanted here or can happen here, but there

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is something out there that I think that we can all work together to develop these guard

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rails that will potentially allow us to have a data center situated in Cecil County

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that will drive economic growth and development for the county, and that's all I have at this

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point. Turn it over to Director O'Connor.

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Thank you, Director Edwards. What I want to do now is take that discussion and bring it

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into the land use context. My role is obviously different, and my responsibility here is to ask

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if this use comes to Cecil County, where is it appropriate under what conditions could

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to occur, and what scale do we require additional public review?

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What I'm going to walk you through is a framework.

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We've been developing to answer those questions, and then at the end there are a few areas

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that I'd specifically like to ask County Council for your feedback before we move into a formal

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zoning text amendment.

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So as Dan mentioned, before I get into the framework, I want to establish something that's

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very important. There are no applications pending for data centers here in

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Cecil County. No developer has asked us. We don't have any inquiries and I think

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that actually puts us in a great position because it gives us something we

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don't normally have time. We have time to establish the rules before we're being

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to apply them. If an application eventually comes, I'd rather much rather would know what the

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county's policy is to develop rather than trying to do a policy on the fly. So just because we

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don't have an application doesn't mean we don't have the opportunity to plan.

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Data centers in general

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aren't new. They have been around. What is changing is the scale of the infrastructure intensity.

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Between cloud computing, artificial intelligence, digital services, increasing demand for digital infrastructure, as well as these facilities that are becoming larger and denser.

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Issues confronting local governments like ours have changed as well, where no longer just talking about a accessory building containing servers.

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We can talk about facilities for power, water, land area, transportation, noise, and compatibility.

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What surrounding properties can all become significant land use considerations.

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As you've seen or heard, Maryland as neighboring jurisdictions are also confronting these questions.

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So from a planning standpoint, this is an emerging land use that these counties need to understand.

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And I want to be careful about what I'm not saying.

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I'm not saying that there will be a data center development in Seas County.

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I don't know that, we don't know that.

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There are a lot of market infrastructure, electrical, regulatory, and economic factors

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that ultimately decide where these go.

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But we don't want to have to predict whether an application is coming in order to be prepared

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for one.

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The land use is no longer hypothetical.

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It's what we need to prepare for.

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So why do we want to prepare now?

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Again, this kind of illustrates our entire philosophy behind this effort.

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Today we're having a policy discussion without an applicant or a particular site driving the outcome.

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If or when an application is filed, that discussion changes.

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If there's an applicant or there's a property owner or an investment, now we're talking about deadlines.

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And then every policy question begins to look like a decision about a particular project.

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If we wait longer, again, we could be going, finding ourselves trying to develop regulations simultaneously with an application.

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And again, I want to have this conversation today before there's an application on our desk.

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So now that we've decided to prepare, we've come really came down to three questions.

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where could these appropriately occur? Under what conditions could these occur? And because

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data centers can vary in size in what scale should additional public review be required?

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These are the questions that are the foundation for our framework. And our logic is pretty

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straightforward. First, as we talked about, we recognize that this is an emerging land use

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and that our current ordinance wasn't written to address today's scale.

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Second, we try to identify an appropriate setting.

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Our recommendation is that principal data centers belong only in the county's M2 heavy

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industrial district.

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Third, we recognize that scale matters.

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A small accessory facility doesn't necessarily need to be regulated the same way as a hyperscale

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campus.

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this, then we establish meaningful guard rails addressing the impacts that we can regulate,

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and finally require a grade review as a scale and potential impacts increase, which

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led us to this structure here, where we have four tiers.

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First tier is essentially an accessory use, think of a computing infrastructure serving an

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In addition, establish principal use, accessory building for the hospital, for example.

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Our second tier, we are looking to do a what we're calling a minor data center.

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That is up to 50,000 square feet of aggregate gross floor area that would be in the M2 and

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would be permitted subject to conditions and site plan review.

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And I want to make an important point here.

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When we talk about square footage, we're talking about square footage across the entire

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data center campus.

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So you couldn't necessarily try to avoid it here by dividing the same development among

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the same building, several buildings.

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Tier 3 is the major data center, where we're beginning at 50,001 square feet and up, and

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M2 to require site plan review, and then tier 4, at that level, were proposing an additional layer for public review through the Board of Appeals special exception process, followed by the site plan review.

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You'll notice on the slides, tier 4 threshold isn't established yet, that's intentional.

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As we were working through this framework, we originally had set 250,000 square feet.

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And as the discussion continued, we weren't coming to see if that was the right number,

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did it need to be larger, did it need to be smaller.

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So rather than pick that number, we were purposely asking for your feedback on where would that

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come from.

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And don't need to answer tonight, don't need to answer now, but we are asking for

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council's feedback.

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Where is that breaking point between say a tier 3 and tier 4 where, at what scale would

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you like to see additional public review?

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But even on the scale, we've added some guardrails again for what we can control in zoning.

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So again, as we move through each tier, our minimum acreage increases with the scale of

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facility, whether it's a minor at 20 acres, major at 50 acres or 100 acres for a hyper

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scale.

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For posing a 300 foot setback from a public road 100 feet from rear and side property

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boundaries and a 1500 foot separation from an existing dwelling on an adjoining property,

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that would be the highest of that kind of setback we have from adjoining dwellings on properties

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that in our zoning ordinance.

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We are requiring substantial buffering with firms.

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We are going to require that it be connected

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to public water and public sewer,

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that access be from a collector or a curial roadway.

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And then we look to address height, lighting,

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mechanical equipment screening, emergency access security.

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Our objective here is to create harmonious development.

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So simply because a property is zoned M2

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it does not mean a data center is automatically going to fit on that property.

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All right, so I wanted to stop here a minute because we realized that our internal discussions

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talking about tier 1, 2, 3, 4 could be pretty abstract.

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So we developed these illustrations to just simply show scale.

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There are contextual examples, there are not actual projects, nothing's proposed for

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Cecil County. Across the top here,

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you can see the same basic use growing from an accessory

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facility to minor, to major, to hyperscale. At the bottom, you can even see that we're

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talking about scale, not technology. So we're really just talking about the physical scale and

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and potential land use.

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If you look at their Tier 1, you have a view from the road, again looks pretty straightforward.

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You've got a bird's eye view and then if you'll notice you have, and it might be a little

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hard to see on this screen here, but you have the green around the principal use and then

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the yellow around an accessory use when we talk about an accessory use data center.

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And again, we'll do the same thing here for minor, and I won't walk through all of them,

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but again, I will look down on the bottom here when you talk about minor.

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We're looking at something outlined in blue there.

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Major again outlined in yellow at this time, and again, this might be something you might

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be comfortable with or seeing or used to seeing say in a principio or a

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bay bridge situation where we already have a large industrial facility. And then

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for the hyper scale there isn't any outline there because at a hyper scale we're

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talking about the data center being the campus being the industrial park. So again

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and that's what we're looking at when we talk about hyper scale.

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So, I'm gonna get up here.

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We talked about what these could look like.

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So, when we put this framework together,

456
00:42:29,220 --> 00:42:34,860
we wanted to make sure that we wanted it to be in the places we wanted it,

457
00:42:35,180 --> 00:42:37,920
to be restrictive but not prohibitive.

458
00:42:39,020 --> 00:42:41,240
And again, from a zoning background,

459
00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:46,900
You make something prohibitive it could open you up to some litigation.

460
00:42:47,980 --> 00:42:56,300
So independently, as you know, my friend and colleague and, you know, with Mr. David

461
00:42:56,300 --> 00:43:00,740
Black, I sent to my framework and said, David, this is what we're thinking, can you put

462
00:43:00,740 --> 00:43:01,500
together a map?

463
00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:07,020
So he did not necessarily have any context of what we're thinking, just read through and

464
00:43:07,020 --> 00:43:08,380
created this map here.

465
00:43:08,380 --> 00:43:14,360
So, this is a planning level application.

466
00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:21,940
This is just taking, okay, acreage of the parcels, where there could be public water and

467
00:43:21,940 --> 00:43:26,620
sewer, where there's access to an arterial or collector road, which you see here in

468
00:43:26,620 --> 00:43:35,840
this pink are the locations of the municipalities inside of Cecil County, and then what you see

469
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:44,820
here and yellow are, and again, a planning level exercise of potential locations of where

470
00:43:44,820 --> 00:43:52,020
this could occur. And again, we didn't go through and take a look at anything in particular.

471
00:43:52,380 --> 00:43:59,020
If you take a look on this side here, you can, we, same map, we underlaid the aerial here,

472
00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:05,380
but just to kind of give you a sense of what the existing development is in these areas.

473
00:44:05,380 --> 00:44:11,220
So, if you'll notice up here, currently this is being used for mining purposes.

474
00:44:11,220 --> 00:44:19,220
This is the Elk Mills Quarry, again, that is an area that could qualify, but I don't believe

475
00:44:19,220 --> 00:44:23,060
they are going to finish doing those resources anytime soon.

476
00:44:24,180 --> 00:44:28,600
And then some of them are more major areas you're looking at potentially Triumph Industrial

477
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:34,180
Park, Principio, and again, some of this area where there is some surface mining.

478
00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:45,620
We are not marketing this, we are not prohibiting it, we are just looking to show that this could pass the zoning test.

479
00:44:46,080 --> 00:44:47,140
Couldn't this happen?

480
00:44:52,910 --> 00:44:57,450
Just real quick, so the yellow is where you're saying would pass the zoning test.

481
00:44:58,190 --> 00:44:58,790
Correct.

482
00:44:58,790 --> 00:44:59,410
And

483
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:29,020
And again, this doesn't necessarily go down to site specifics. So that would be on an individual application when we start getting into things about setbacks and buffers and berms and items to that nature. I noticed that there's one very large area where I think people would assume something like this would go, does not list it on this map. Being Maynbridge.

484
00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:37,440
Well, and I will state for that because again, the town of Port deposit handles that are

485
00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:48,000
own zoning inside of Ambrish, so yeah, so and again, so they the town would have their

486
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:50,380
own set of zoning parameters there.

487
00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:05,540
So I want to move on to two infrastructure issues that receive a lot of attention during

488
00:46:05,540 --> 00:46:07,900
our research water and power.

489
00:46:14,240 --> 00:46:18,900
Water is one of the largest items that you hear about. Data

490
00:46:18,900 --> 00:46:26,180
centers consume a ton of water and as we did our research, frankly, we learned a lot that helped

491
00:46:26,180 --> 00:46:32,840
me understand this issue. You've probably heard very large numbers of water usage with data center.

492
00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:41,720
They can be real, but the question of how much water does a data center use just doesn't have one answer.

493
00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:48,300
It really depends on the cooling system, the computing load, the climate, and how the facility operates.

494
00:46:49,780 --> 00:46:53,960
Traditional evaporative cooling can consume substantial amounts of water.

495
00:46:54,800 --> 00:47:02,640
You also have dry or air cooling that can use very little water but increases electrical demand.

496
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:11,220
again. And then we have closed loop liquid cooling. And this is a portion I particularly

497
00:47:11,220 --> 00:47:18,640
want counsel to notice. Closed loop is increasingly prevalent and new high density facilities.

498
00:47:19,940 --> 00:47:24,440
Instead of continuously bringing water into the cooling process and consuming it through

499
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:30,560
evaporation, the cooling fluid is recirculated through the system. Now it's increasingly important

500
00:47:30,560 --> 00:47:32,300
that computing equipment becomes denser,

501
00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:34,120
particularly with AI applications.

502
00:47:35,420 --> 00:47:37,220
And I want to be precise about this.

503
00:47:37,460 --> 00:47:40,240
Close loop doesn't mean no water usage.

504
00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:44,700
The way the system ultimately rejects heat still matters

505
00:47:44,700 --> 00:47:48,020
and obviously the facility can have other water demands,

506
00:47:48,900 --> 00:47:51,500
you know, restrooms, kitchen facilities, things like that.

507
00:47:51,980 --> 00:47:54,240
But we should be careful assuming that every future

508
00:47:54,240 --> 00:47:57,020
to ask our consumes millions of gallons of water a day.

509
00:48:00,020 --> 00:48:02,420
So this is an example of why I don't think

510
00:48:02,420 --> 00:48:06,240
our zoning ordinance should prescribe a particular cooling technology.

511
00:48:07,230 --> 00:48:09,220
The technology is changing very quickly.

512
00:48:10,140 --> 00:48:14,820
If we write something today that our preferred engineering solution is to do closed loop,

513
00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:19,300
we may be actually preventing somebody from a better technology four to five years from now.

514
00:48:20,580 --> 00:48:27,100
So rather than our approach is to regulate the impact, again, we'll still require the public

515
00:48:27,100 --> 00:48:33,700
water allocation, the public sewer allocation, adequate infrastructure, and it can evaluate

516
00:48:33,700 --> 00:48:36,720
demand with the system as it's being proposed.

517
00:48:38,820 --> 00:48:40,580
Can I ask you a question while we're on this?

518
00:48:41,940 --> 00:48:46,820
So I've done research on this about the open versus the closed, and the closed, as you

519
00:48:46,820 --> 00:48:48,120
said, uses less water.

520
00:48:48,540 --> 00:48:53,220
My concern is, after they're done with the water, whether it's open or closed or a hybrid,

521
00:48:53,640 --> 00:48:57,780
where does the water get disposed of, because at that point I've read that it contains lots

522
00:48:57,780 --> 00:49:01,960
of lead and you can't just, you can't dump it in the river, you can't dump it in a landfill,

523
00:49:03,160 --> 00:49:12,080
so the more water it uses, the more that has to be dumped, I guess, lack of a better word.

524
00:49:12,540 --> 00:49:17,780
So that is my question. Is there a plan and you may get to that later on, but is there a plan

525
00:49:17,780 --> 00:49:20,600
to where we put the water with all the contaminants?

526
00:49:24,770 --> 00:49:29,340
That, I think you've asked the question exactly

527
00:49:29,340 --> 00:49:35,480
why we wanted to come to Council tonight to find out these kind of questions to get ahead

528
00:49:35,480 --> 00:49:39,460
of it. So we will have to get back to you with any answer.

529
00:49:39,460 --> 00:49:44,980
Okay, and for the record, I do really appreciate the discussion before being the proactive

530
00:49:44,980 --> 00:49:49,860
discussion versus a reactive that is always a better place to be. So I do appreciate everyone's

531
00:49:49,860 --> 00:49:50,920
time. So I don't know this.

532
00:49:51,700 --> 00:49:57,040
What, director, the research I've done so far, basically they said a standard golf course

533
00:49:57,040 --> 00:49:59,080
we use more water than a data center.

534
00:50:00,780 --> 00:50:06,240
And that could be true, but just like I said, consuming lots of water could also be true.

535
00:50:06,380 --> 00:50:10,240
It really is dependent on the technology and how they're designed.

536
00:50:12,140 --> 00:50:20,460
Again, I will defer to Councilman Miller and yourself, and I haven't worked in private

537
00:50:20,460 --> 00:50:25,080
business, but I do understand that private business always wants to find things to be the most

538
00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:26,680
efficient to keep things going.

539
00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:36,020
So I would think that can try to would continue and also I think they have to fill they have to filter that water before they they just can't dump it in the river

540
00:50:36,020 --> 00:50:43,640
Right and part of this is the closed loop piece has been evolving so quickly even in the last few months

541
00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:51,840
We don't know what other ingredients they have to do with closed loop can we can we treat it in our sewer plan?

542
00:50:51,840 --> 00:50:56,240
can we not treat it as it had to be set aside to a certain level.

543
00:50:56,620 --> 00:51:00,460
These are questions we would have for any kind of applicant if they said,

544
00:51:00,460 --> 00:51:03,540
hey, we're going to do close loop, we're going to do very low water.

545
00:51:04,140 --> 00:51:09,300
Well, what else will you do from a standpoint of cooling this down?

546
00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:14,520
So, yeah, it's an open question that we still have to resolve.

547
00:51:14,520 --> 00:51:19,300
Okay. Thank you for the questions.

548
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:26,060
Power is also one of the larger infrastructure issues

549
00:51:26,060 --> 00:51:32,140
with data centers. Electrical demand can be comparable to other major infrastructure.

550
00:51:33,380 --> 00:51:39,760
This isn't your conventional commercial building load. Once you reach that scale, how the facility

551
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:44,300
really is powered, becomes integral to the site planning where we're going to put it.

552
00:51:45,060 --> 00:51:47,080
But there's also an important regulatory line here.

553
00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:49,380
We handle land use.

554
00:51:50,280 --> 00:51:53,120
We don't operate the regional electric grid.

555
00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:59,480
We spent some considerable time separating what appropriately belongs to zoning and

556
00:51:59,480 --> 00:52:03,860
from what belongs to the state, utilities, PGM, federal regulators.

557
00:52:07,630 --> 00:52:10,510
So then the direction of our framework becomes pretty straightforward.

558
00:52:10,510 --> 00:52:16,070
principle data centers would be required to incorporate co-located power generation.

559
00:52:16,670 --> 00:52:21,050
In other words, the development's got to be designed to bring its own power.

560
00:52:23,300 --> 00:52:27,780
And I want to distinguish that from emergency generators or putting backup generators

561
00:52:27,780 --> 00:52:31,800
behind a data center that does not meet the requirement.

562
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:35,180
We're talking about the facility's primary power source.

563
00:52:37,090 --> 00:52:41,570
The underlying land use premises that if the facility's bringing extra

564
00:52:41,570 --> 00:52:46,970
or an electrical demand to the site, the primary generation needs to support that demand

565
00:52:46,970 --> 00:52:48,770
and should be incorporated in the site development.

566
00:52:49,710 --> 00:52:54,410
Of course, generation interconnection components would still have to be complied with whatever

567
00:52:54,410 --> 00:52:59,570
state and federal approvals may be applied, which brings me to the regulatory line here.

568
00:53:05,110 --> 00:53:10,110
On the CSC county side, we regulate land use, we regulate the site plans, location of facilities,

569
00:53:10,110 --> 00:53:17,710
the setbacks, buffering on-site requirements, compatibility with land uses, whereas on the

570
00:53:17,710 --> 00:53:22,150
energy regulators, they're talking about the generation, grid reliability, electric

571
00:53:22,150 --> 00:53:29,210
rates, system capacity, other applicable state and energy approvals, which all of these

572
00:53:29,210 --> 00:53:34,090
are legitimate questions, but we just need to be disciplined about what we can handle

573
00:53:34,090 --> 00:53:41,250
in the zoning ordinance, and our framework remains on the left side of this slide.

574
00:53:42,070 --> 00:53:46,510
I'm going to pause here, Dan. Do you want to talk a little bit more about onsite

575
00:53:46,510 --> 00:53:47,790
generation to have a drink?

576
00:53:49,470 --> 00:53:56,570
Council, this scenario down, I believe the administration is not going to give to any data

577
00:53:56,570 --> 00:54:03,790
center developer. We've been very clear that we do not want to hook these up for the grid

578
00:54:03,790 --> 00:54:06,970
for power generation.

579
00:54:07,370 --> 00:54:11,790
You guys may have known that the large data center complex are building in Frederick County.

580
00:54:12,150 --> 00:54:14,110
We'll hook directly up to the grid.

581
00:54:14,350 --> 00:54:15,590
We think this is irresponsible.

582
00:54:16,470 --> 00:54:22,310
Could affect residential electrical rates last year.

583
00:54:22,830 --> 00:54:32,390
There was a proposal through Allegheny County that we partnered for permission from the General Assembly to generate one site power generation.

584
00:54:33,110 --> 00:54:50,170
It got some talk, it didn't quite get to a vote, but we do need General Assembly approval to be able to do this to allow somebody to create a generating station for a data center.

585
00:54:50,410 --> 00:54:59,450
So if we do not get a bill passed in this General Assembly session, we will not have a data center.

586
00:55:00,030 --> 00:55:01,870
I just want to make that very clear.

587
00:55:02,390 --> 00:55:03,630
This is very much aligned.

588
00:55:03,810 --> 00:55:08,870
We brought it up before at Bainbridge and they will follow the same direction as the

589
00:55:08,870 --> 00:55:10,250
counties going to do as well.

590
00:55:10,830 --> 00:55:15,790
So it's not like, oh, well, poor deposit can just jump on the grid and they can do whatever

591
00:55:15,790 --> 00:55:16,310
they want.

592
00:55:16,450 --> 00:55:21,770
That still affects the grid reliability and affects electrical rates on our county.

593
00:55:23,370 --> 00:55:27,710
This is an area that we feel is the most responsible.

594
00:55:27,950 --> 00:55:32,390
We can be to Cecil County residents, Maryland residents.

595
00:55:32,810 --> 00:55:39,050
We are going to require them to generate their own power that they need to run and data center.

596
00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:41,620
Thank you.

597
00:55:42,120 --> 00:55:43,420
So question about that.

598
00:55:44,200 --> 00:55:46,680
So one, I guess my question is about the state legislation.

599
00:55:46,940 --> 00:55:50,380
Is that a Cecil County bill or is that a statewide bill?

600
00:55:50,380 --> 00:55:57,560
Well, it probably will start, I can't say I know exactly on the format on that, it could,

601
00:55:58,080 --> 00:56:01,020
it's probably going to start out as a CISO County bill.

602
00:56:01,920 --> 00:56:08,240
We know there's a few other counties that are interested in partnering with that.

603
00:56:08,940 --> 00:56:13,560
I can't believe the General Assembly will just make it a statewide bill.

604
00:56:13,740 --> 00:56:19,580
There's too many, you know, one of our advantages here is all the M2 zoning we have.

605
00:56:19,580 --> 00:56:22,940
of a lot of counties don't have this industrial zoning

606
00:56:22,940 --> 00:56:24,520
or they've already used it up.

607
00:56:25,260 --> 00:56:28,540
Okay, so that's one of our advantages that we have

608
00:56:28,540 --> 00:56:29,560
in Cecil County.

609
00:56:30,080 --> 00:56:32,360
So ultimately, we're gonna go down and say,

610
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:37,600
hey, we would like this ability to move forward

611
00:56:37,600 --> 00:56:42,160
with these if other counties or the General Assembly

612
00:56:42,160 --> 00:56:46,660
says, well, we're gonna expand it to a few other counties

613
00:56:46,660 --> 00:56:52,600
These that have similar needs or similar wants, will they run it as a pilot and allow

614
00:56:52,600 --> 00:56:56,440
Cecil County to show the rest of the state how this can work?

615
00:56:56,700 --> 00:57:01,840
That would be permissible for us because that allows us to be able to move forward.

616
00:57:02,760 --> 00:57:08,880
But a lot of this is going to probably have to get sorted out in the general assembly session

617
00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:09,460
coming up.

618
00:57:09,460 --> 00:57:16,820
And so regarding power, onsite power to RUMO has one, we were speaking of manufacturing

619
00:57:16,820 --> 00:57:17,360
earlier.

620
00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:21,960
They have their own SMR that powers their facility.

621
00:57:22,720 --> 00:57:27,320
So most likely a data center would be establishing an SMR as well.

622
00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:36,800
What's the state regulation versus county regulation and permitting process for a reactor?

623
00:57:37,600 --> 00:57:52,920
because I would assume that's going to also, I mean, that impact, but it impacts the time it takes because I know a full, like, if we were to build a Calvert Cliffs, it's 10 years down the road versus you can get an SMR in my understanding up in like five years.

624
00:57:52,920 --> 00:58:01,880
If I may, Dan, I will, the power generation, again, that is handled by the state.

625
00:58:02,380 --> 00:58:07,820
And if you remember from the presentation last week about where power generation facilities

626
00:58:07,820 --> 00:58:15,120
go, the state has a very, very, very large role in saying where is an appropriate site.

627
00:58:15,740 --> 00:58:22,600
So it would be a PSC approval to go through that process, and then?

628
00:58:23,120 --> 00:58:28,800
Will they still end up having to go through our same permitting and stuff like that, like the solar?

629
00:58:29,200 --> 00:58:34,160
We certainly believe that DNR and MD will weigh in on this.

630
00:58:34,440 --> 00:58:39,000
This is not a bill that the General Assembly says, okay, Caesar can't go ahead and build.

631
00:58:39,000 --> 00:58:45,540
You know once a power generation there's going to be emissions requirements of MDE's going to require

632
00:58:45,540 --> 00:58:47,460
We have to meet those

633
00:58:48,220 --> 00:58:55,540
DNR right now has power plant jurisdiction on on on virtually anything that gets built in

634
00:58:56,160 --> 00:58:57,400
in the state

635
00:58:58,200 --> 00:59:03,960
We're really not looking at SMR as an option. It's just right now. It looks like a number of

636
00:59:09,920 --> 00:59:14,040
We don't see that as a viable technology at this point.

637
00:59:14,460 --> 00:59:16,580
But for a data center, it would be.

638
00:59:17,740 --> 00:59:18,580
I would assume.

639
00:59:18,940 --> 00:59:22,760
I mean, potentially, but again, a lot of that would have...

640
00:59:22,760 --> 00:59:27,000
I don't know if the state has permitted any of those on a smaller scale.

641
00:59:27,360 --> 00:59:27,540
Okay.

642
00:59:27,740 --> 00:59:31,900
So there's a lot of regulatory stuff that would have to drop from that.

643
00:59:31,900 --> 00:59:38,680
And one of the technologies that we've seen that could be feasible is fuel cells that would

644
00:59:38,680 --> 00:59:45,180
either use natural gas or hydrogen as a fuel source because they basically have zero emissions.

645
00:59:46,420 --> 00:59:49,740
But they generate high rates of electricity.

646
00:59:50,960 --> 00:59:55,060
These technologies have grown tremendously in the last few years.

647
00:59:55,060 --> 00:59:58,720
There's a good possibility that these could be a good fit.

648
00:59:59,220 --> 00:59:59,900
Meet the emission.

649
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:29,980
It's requirements and still be cost effective for an applicant. You know, some of these things, we can put everything up here. But if a data center says, hey, I can't afford all that and they walk anyway, right? We're just trying to put a framework together. It says, this is how we were permitties and we're going to protect our citizens, you know, from high electrical rates or excessive water use or anything else that may result of, you know,

650
01:00:29,980 --> 01:00:31,580
you know, from this type of infrastructure.

651
01:00:31,760 --> 01:00:36,260
So in terms of whatever power source they choose,

652
01:00:36,820 --> 01:00:40,820
I understand not connecting to the grid to pull power

653
01:00:40,820 --> 01:00:42,660
from the grid, but what about excess,

654
01:00:43,300 --> 01:00:45,360
like excess energy that's produced,

655
01:00:45,680 --> 01:00:47,600
putting it onto the grid, potentially.

656
01:00:47,600 --> 01:00:49,860
I think it's, like, I would agree with connecting

657
01:00:50,300 --> 01:00:50,780
to that.

658
01:00:51,860 --> 01:00:54,020
I mean, I mean, a lot of this could be,

659
01:00:54,420 --> 01:00:57,240
you know, part of the discussion,

660
01:00:57,460 --> 01:00:59,440
I think some of the things we've learned

661
01:00:59,440 --> 01:01:07,060
from the public service commission and you heard it a week ago about solar is when you start

662
01:01:07,060 --> 01:01:13,300
hooking up to the grid and you need their permission, you layer a whole another group of regulatory

663
01:01:13,300 --> 01:01:21,600
approvals and oversight on our project. Our initial premise has been we want to be able to generate

664
01:01:21,600 --> 01:01:27,860
onside for the use of those people in that industrial park.

665
01:01:28,620 --> 01:01:31,940
And frankly, Sandra will tell you,

666
01:01:32,420 --> 01:01:37,120
just normal electric that we need for, say, a high-end manufacturer,

667
01:01:37,740 --> 01:01:42,360
or something like that, whether it be a Bainbridge or Principia or anywhere else,

668
01:01:42,760 --> 01:01:45,320
Del Marford does not have the electric.

669
01:01:46,280 --> 01:01:51,520
And they're telling us that, hey, we don't have the power to be able to generate that.

670
01:01:51,520 --> 01:01:56,200
And I mean, it could be, you know, a chip manufacturer that we get to say,

671
01:01:56,280 --> 01:02:00,440
hey, they want to build a state of the art manufacturing facility principale.

672
01:02:00,860 --> 01:02:05,060
Right now we have to tell them, hey, we don't have enough electricity for you.

673
01:02:05,420 --> 01:02:08,420
This is the problem the state of Maryland has put all of us into.

674
01:02:09,400 --> 01:02:13,440
And so we're thinking out of the box saying, all right, give us the ability

675
01:02:13,960 --> 01:02:20,200
to generate our own electricity so we can grow our own local economy or even the state economy.

676
01:02:20,200 --> 01:02:23,500
I mean, and it really just comes in a common sense.

677
01:02:23,700 --> 01:02:25,820
This is, you guys can't do it for us,

678
01:02:25,860 --> 01:02:29,380
so we're coming up with a plan and a solution to do this.

679
01:02:29,740 --> 01:02:32,580
And we still will meet all the regulatory issues

680
01:02:32,990 --> 01:02:34,300
that they want to throw at us,

681
01:02:34,380 --> 01:02:39,480
whether it be air emissions or site selection

682
01:02:39,480 --> 01:02:40,980
or type of technology,

683
01:02:40,980 --> 01:02:46,640
or any of these other things that may come from this state.

684
01:02:48,160 --> 01:03:00,620
Well, I guess the concern I have is that if we have these regulations in place as we did with the solar and then the state says it doesn't matter what you have, you know, you're going to put it over here, you're going to put it over there.

685
01:03:01,280 --> 01:03:03,520
Will we be able to say no, we're not.

686
01:03:04,180 --> 01:03:20,440
Yes. I believe so, Bob. I think the whole thing is this M2 zoning used to key. They're not going to be able to say, well, you can do all this but we want you to put one over here because then we'll say, hey, you're too close to a residence.

687
01:03:20,440 --> 01:03:24,620
We have a 1,500-foot setback, if it's 1,000 feet.

688
01:03:25,900 --> 01:03:30,220
I mean, they already can override a lot of things that we've done, but that doesn't

689
01:03:30,220 --> 01:03:35,560
mean if somebody, I just can't imagine the state's going to come in and go, we want you

690
01:03:35,560 --> 01:03:39,980
to build one right here and we're just going to overrule all of this stuff.

691
01:03:40,220 --> 01:03:47,500
They could do that right now, I mean, so all we're telling the state and county council and

692
01:03:47,500 --> 01:03:52,960
the public, we're putting some guidelines on these things and we're putting some pretty

693
01:03:52,960 --> 01:03:59,260
good restrictions if you want to build one. This is what you have to do. In the argument

694
01:03:59,260 --> 01:04:04,000
even with the Frederick Data Center, they made up paying more for electricity off the

695
01:04:04,000 --> 01:04:09,180
grid than they ever would do if they put their own little power plan on there to generate

696
01:04:09,180 --> 01:04:15,960
their own. But that's a choice Frederick County made. But they're in the same PGM grid

697
01:04:15,960 --> 01:04:22,060
we are. So whatever electricity they do, we're all going to have a piece of that. Let's put it

698
01:04:22,060 --> 01:04:27,820
that way. We don't want to be part of that premise. We want to say if you're going to come here,

699
01:04:28,100 --> 01:04:33,060
you're going to generate your own power. And if the general assembly allows it to do it, then we'll

700
01:04:33,060 --> 01:04:39,460
go to the next steps. Can we get them to dredge the dam for us to put that and just slide that little

701
01:04:39,460 --> 01:04:42,800
I don't know, caveat, if you can't, you have to contribute to dredging.

702
01:04:44,120 --> 01:04:44,600
Maybe.

703
01:04:45,100 --> 01:04:45,220
Yes.

704
01:04:45,680 --> 01:04:53,160
And Councilman Mephli, I would like to say that, you know, I would love to be down at

705
01:04:53,160 --> 01:04:58,480
Mekko next August, you know, where everyone is asking Cecil County, how did you guys do

706
01:04:58,480 --> 01:04:58,620
it?

707
01:04:58,820 --> 01:04:59,680
How did you make it work?

708
01:05:00,200 --> 01:05:06,720
So I would love to be in that position and I'm hoping that we, Cecil County, can be a leader

709
01:05:06,720 --> 01:05:12,280
in this discussion to see how other Maryland counties can follow us.

710
01:05:12,900 --> 01:05:22,500
And one of the things you hear about, this is all new to us, wasn't until this thing really

711
01:05:22,500 --> 01:05:27,660
hit the news last year, so it really kind of smacked us, it was never on our radar.

712
01:05:28,440 --> 01:05:36,100
So this is our attempt on trying to get ahead of the game before the state dictates to us

713
01:05:36,100 --> 01:05:44,700
what it's going to be like they did with these solar fields, and then we have to come back and be reactive with the ordinance that we did to kind of slow that down.

714
01:05:46,540 --> 01:05:57,620
We do not believe I know when people think of data center, they think the AI tier four paper, paper data center.

715
01:05:57,620 --> 01:06:05,300
There is no place really in Cecil County for a campus style like that, there just isn't.

716
01:06:05,400 --> 01:06:07,020
We don't have the infrastructure, we don't have the land.

717
01:06:08,420 --> 01:06:16,160
So I think just getting that out there will probably alleviate a lot of fears that we are

718
01:06:16,160 --> 01:06:21,220
not going to be turned into London County, Virginia, where it is not.

719
01:06:22,600 --> 01:06:31,920
So just trying to have these things before anybody ever comes to us and said, these are our

720
01:06:31,920 --> 01:06:32,380
guidelines.

721
01:06:32,520 --> 01:06:34,680
I think that's what we're trying to get ahead of.

722
01:06:35,360 --> 01:06:41,480
And this is really a starting point to present to you what Steve and Sandra have put together

723
01:06:42,200 --> 01:06:47,140
asking for counsel's input, asking for the public's input to make sure that what we do come

724
01:06:47,140 --> 01:06:50,200
with, we get it right, and that it makes sense.

725
01:06:52,180 --> 01:06:57,260
Like I said, this is new to all of us, so we want to have these restrictive roles that

726
01:06:57,260 --> 01:07:01,800
protects the community and to do so in complete transparency.

727
01:07:04,200 --> 01:07:14,060
As Dan said, no electricity, no air generation, it's not going to happen, and so that would

728
01:07:14,060 --> 01:07:19,620
take an act from the General Assembly, so a lot of that, a lot of this discussion is

729
01:07:19,620 --> 01:07:25,260
not going to make any way for, you know, technology improves, you know, what if, what if,

730
01:07:25,260 --> 01:07:30,820
what if, well, here we have it in place. I would also be remiss to say that even at

731
01:07:30,820 --> 01:07:38,120
tier three, which would be the maximum that we can even conceive of, of, of, of, of, of

732
01:07:38,120 --> 01:07:47,860
of Cecil County's supporting would bring in significant tax revenue to the county to help us pay for the things that we need to be paying for.

733
01:07:50,460 --> 01:08:05,240
Like our infrastructure, like our schools, like our public safety, like a lot of these things and we don't have to, we not only don't have to raise the tax burden on our citizens to do it, but 18, $20 million a year would help us actually lower it.

734
01:08:05,240 --> 01:08:20,140
I've made no secret that my goal is to get us at the very least below or below the pre McCarthy tax rates and something like this would go, and I still think that it's doable.

735
01:08:20,900 --> 01:08:29,520
But if we can continue to have nice things and continue to have the community that we love and to improve our quality of life,

736
01:08:29,520 --> 01:08:34,920
while significantly reducing the tax burden in the tax rates on our citizens,

737
01:08:35,420 --> 01:08:39,440
we'd be very foolish to throw the baby out of the bathwater and say,

738
01:08:39,560 --> 01:08:45,100
no, without at least exploring what this is, defining it and having a framework

739
01:08:45,100 --> 01:08:47,300
before somebody else tells us what to do.

740
01:08:48,960 --> 01:08:54,960
And you had that, you know, obviously we, you hear these terms, bands and moratoriums.

741
01:08:54,960 --> 01:09:04,420
What we've learned from other counties, so once it have banned them, they're either they may be the political decision or they're going to

742
01:09:05,880 --> 01:09:16,920
rethinking go well, geez a ban is a ban. Maybe they could get sued. Just like Steve said a moratorium. What we're finding out is a lot of them are not in the position we are. Okay.

743
01:09:17,380 --> 01:09:22,440
so they've had an application and they didn't have regulations set up and they

744
01:09:22,440 --> 01:09:25,880
want to put it in an area that they don't want so they said all right let's do

745
01:09:25,880 --> 01:09:30,640
a moratorium let's do our work and then when we're ready to lift the moratorium

746
01:09:30,640 --> 01:09:35,700
this is where we potentially cut a lot on so a lot of people get those two terms

747
01:09:35,700 --> 01:09:43,240
confused but I mean our premise all along is we probably should do our

748
01:09:43,240 --> 01:09:48,420
homework and never been anything. Let's just say where we want these and if they

749
01:09:48,420 --> 01:09:53,560
come and they work out and they follow our restrictions great. We've done good

750
01:09:53,560 --> 01:10:00,700
land use planning and we've done good for the county. Well I think what you're

751
01:10:00,700 --> 01:10:04,720
doing with this basically is you're taking a mask off the public. Right now the

752
01:10:04,720 --> 01:10:09,340
public has a perception of what this is and oh my god how's it going to affect my

753
01:10:09,340 --> 01:10:15,100
electric bill right what is it going to cost me as a constituent how much do I and and what you're doing now

754
01:10:15,100 --> 01:10:19,980
You're saying okay fine. You're not going to be charged anymore. You're not going to be paying for anything

755
01:10:19,980 --> 01:10:27,200
So yeah, I think these facts need to get out. So I you know, I commend you with what you're doing. You're you're getting you know

756
01:10:27,820 --> 01:10:31,220
The horse isn't on the track, but you're winning the race so keep it up

757
01:10:33,120 --> 01:10:34,000
Thank you

758
01:10:34,000 --> 01:10:38,140
Yeah, and for again just to go over

759
01:10:39,340 --> 01:10:41,400
I think it's been said, but I'll say it again.

760
01:10:41,500 --> 01:10:43,040
We do not have a pending application.

761
01:10:43,040 --> 01:10:44,180
We're not rezoning anything.

762
01:10:44,240 --> 01:10:46,160
There's no bill being introduced tonight.

763
01:10:47,460 --> 01:10:48,740
We're not resuming any.

764
01:10:50,720 --> 01:10:54,720
You know, and I think what you've just heard from the last bit

765
01:10:54,720 --> 01:11:00,400
of Q&A here, you know, when we developed this framework,

766
01:11:00,620 --> 01:11:04,180
you know, we identified what is the issue, you know, talking

767
01:11:04,180 --> 01:11:07,740
about really, we're talking about where and how

768
01:11:07,740 --> 01:11:10,000
and what's the scrutiny of public review.

769
01:11:10,720 --> 01:11:12,260
You know, learning from others, you know,

770
01:11:12,420 --> 01:11:13,680
we went to the make-o session.

771
01:11:13,860 --> 01:11:15,840
We've learned from PGM.

772
01:11:16,180 --> 01:11:20,300
We've learned from the summit.

773
01:11:21,760 --> 01:11:27,080
We've learned through planning practice literature.

774
01:11:27,400 --> 01:11:29,160
We've looked at what other counties have done.

775
01:11:30,180 --> 01:11:32,160
And we've tried to listen to the experts

776
01:11:32,720 --> 01:11:35,040
and we're following the policy environment.

777
01:11:35,220 --> 01:11:36,780
But what we really want to do is

778
01:11:36,780 --> 01:11:37,860
because we don't want to copy anybody.

779
01:11:38,060 --> 01:11:41,960
We want to make sure that we're developing one that's going to be right for Cecil County.

780
01:11:43,040 --> 01:11:50,820
So this kind of gets to what I think are three very broad questions that the Planning and

781
01:11:50,820 --> 01:11:53,120
Zoning Office actually have for County Council.

782
01:11:54,000 --> 01:12:02,840
And you already seen the one about what gross floor area do you feel is sufficient where we're

783
01:12:02,840 --> 01:12:07,960
We're talking about doing a T or 4 facility, you know, I think you've hit a few others,

784
01:12:08,280 --> 01:12:12,860
you know, what other impacts your community concerns have not been reflected of what we've

785
01:12:12,860 --> 01:12:13,340
talked about.

786
01:12:13,460 --> 01:12:19,280
I know I've already taken a note here from Councilwoman Branch about the water disposal and details

787
01:12:19,280 --> 01:12:25,100
about setting and permitting on onsite generation and onsite power, you know, could that access

788
01:12:25,100 --> 01:12:25,920
go to the greater?

789
01:12:25,920 --> 01:12:27,880
There are other questions like that to come back.

790
01:12:28,960 --> 01:12:34,520
And again, number three is kind of similar, but again, are there other areas that we're

791
01:12:34,520 --> 01:12:40,080
looking to develop or research before we make a formal zoning text amendment?

792
01:12:41,260 --> 01:12:41,480
Again.

793
01:12:41,940 --> 01:12:46,580
Go back to number two, the other impacts that you hear a lot about with data centers is

794
01:12:46,580 --> 01:12:51,460
the noise and to the neighborhood because of the fans and the generators.

795
01:12:51,540 --> 01:12:57,440
And if we're generating our own power grid, that's substantially potentially I guess more

796
01:12:57,440 --> 01:13:03,780
noise. So I think we also need to address the noise impact even with the buffers and everything built

797
01:13:03,780 --> 01:13:09,140
in but also when I mentioned the dumping of the water that's used there's the electronic waste

798
01:13:09,140 --> 01:13:14,760
too because they go through the parts they have to be specifically dumped in certain areas as well

799
01:13:14,760 --> 01:13:20,140
they can't go to the landfill. So we need to make sure while we're having the conversation that we have

800
01:13:20,140 --> 01:13:26,480
all of the all of that information if we can't handle dumping anything from the water to the

801
01:13:26,480 --> 01:13:32,500
electronic waste in Cecil County, where does he get dumped, who pays for it, what is

802
01:13:32,500 --> 01:13:37,920
the substantial damage to the land? Because I think, basically, once you build a data

803
01:13:37,920 --> 01:13:42,840
center, it's kind of like a solar field. That land is not usable for a lot of other things

804
01:13:42,840 --> 01:13:47,200
again. Like, you can't return to farm land, you can't retire, you can't return to certain

805
01:13:47,200 --> 01:13:52,560
things. So it's the same issues we've faced with solar, but I just think on a broader scale.

806
01:13:53,220 --> 01:13:56,680
Well, well, it is a good point, but remember, this is M2 zoning.

807
01:13:56,840 --> 01:13:58,760
It was never going to get in terms of culture.

808
01:13:59,680 --> 01:14:04,560
The other piece, one thing we've seen in other jurisdictions is they see an abandoned

809
01:14:04,560 --> 01:14:05,060
warehouse.

810
01:14:05,060 --> 01:14:06,380
They go, hey, that's perfect.

811
01:14:06,580 --> 01:14:07,580
I want to build a data center.

812
01:14:08,220 --> 01:14:08,340
Boom.

813
01:14:08,760 --> 01:14:09,540
They want to roll in.

814
01:14:09,680 --> 01:14:14,260
We don't have any other counties that don't have regulations where they can stop that.

815
01:14:14,740 --> 01:14:15,000
Okay.

816
01:14:15,240 --> 01:14:18,700
This is where we're ahead of the game with all those.

817
01:14:18,700 --> 01:14:24,080
They could plump, you know, hey, there's a vacant warehouse a mile from from an Elkton residence

818
01:14:24,080 --> 01:14:30,080
We can build a data center there and some counties had to go to a more dorm because they couldn't stop it legally

819
01:14:30,080 --> 01:14:35,720
I would say that's one of the things that I learned from my colleague Deb Carpenter over in Fredra County

820
01:14:35,720 --> 01:14:38,840
You know, they had two data centers before

821
01:14:39,380 --> 01:14:46,800
You know, they became a large issue one was actually developed in 2003 just and the method that Dan was saying was a

822
01:14:46,800 --> 01:14:53,460
the warehouse facility and they came in and did a change use permit and it was just a

823
01:14:54,160 --> 01:14:59,620
server farm. I believe was the term that was used on their permit and then, you know, now

824
01:14:59,620 --> 01:14:59,980
how they have...

825
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:28,620
That I can't remember there. It's a 2,100 acre campus. That's currently being developed at this point. So, you know, there are just goes back to my opening point that, you know, digital infrastructure has been around. What has changed is the scale. So, Steve, I have a couple comments. Number one comment is you're not going to put on agriculture land anywhere. So, yay. Number two, that agriculture lands in solar better go back to agriculture.

826
01:15:28,620 --> 01:15:33,700
culture. We got a lot of problems. And number three, what I learned from

827
01:15:33,700 --> 01:15:38,340
Mako was the most important thing that multiple people told me, you're

828
01:15:38,340 --> 01:15:42,900
better have a fire company close by. And a pretty good one. It's all

829
01:15:42,900 --> 01:15:44,920
electrical. And there's plenty of fires.

830
01:15:47,130 --> 01:15:50,310
And so I keep thinking back to

831
01:15:50,890 --> 01:15:54,150
the development out at Prairieville and create both logs and all this.

832
01:15:54,330 --> 01:15:57,570
And you know, next thing, you know, the ambulance is there. The fire

833
01:15:57,570 --> 01:16:00,050
our country's always got to be at the data center, that type thing.

834
01:16:01,090 --> 01:16:05,310
Just interesting things that, you know, we're learning as we go.

835
01:16:05,610 --> 01:16:06,050
I know that.

836
01:16:06,650 --> 01:16:09,990
But kudos to you guys for all the work you're doing, because you're certainly going

837
01:16:09,990 --> 01:16:11,530
to write direction, in my opinion.

838
01:16:12,050 --> 01:16:12,950
Well, thank you.

839
01:16:13,450 --> 01:16:20,070
And speaking of direction, let's talk about what we think are our tentative next steps here.

840
01:16:22,150 --> 01:16:25,490
Again, we're here today, we're talking about policy discussion, feedback.

841
01:16:25,490 --> 01:16:30,890
back. But today is not going to be Council's only opportunity. I know it happens to me.

842
01:16:31,730 --> 01:16:35,630
You have a presentation, you have a meeting, driving home, something pops in your head.

843
01:16:36,990 --> 01:16:41,650
So we're trying to give a couple of weeks to, you know, if you have more thoughts, more

844
01:16:41,650 --> 01:16:47,710
feedback, you know, and I'll defer to Michelle how, you know, she would like it delivered

845
01:16:47,710 --> 01:16:52,750
whether through her and then to me. But, you know, if we could have your feedback by October

846
01:16:52,750 --> 01:16:57,010
number 9 if there's other things that you want us to go on those questions or anything

847
01:16:57,010 --> 01:17:01,110
else that's popped up, we'll be glad to do it and take a look at it.

848
01:17:01,650 --> 01:17:07,050
And then we look, we're looking to potentially bring this submit it for the planning commission

849
01:17:07,050 --> 01:17:08,970
because of our internal deadlines.

850
01:17:09,630 --> 01:17:15,510
We would submit it for the planning commission on October 15th, but actually hear it in November.

851
01:17:16,270 --> 01:17:19,770
And again, that would be a public hearing so there would be plenty of opportunity for

852
01:17:19,770 --> 01:17:23,090
for the public to give their feedback as well.

853
01:17:23,850 --> 01:17:30,050
And then after the planning commission meeting, which they would only make a recommendation,

854
01:17:31,130 --> 01:17:37,830
we would transmit and create the final bill that I would actually be introduced through

855
01:17:37,830 --> 01:17:42,170
the process that obviously Council is very familiar with, including the planning commission

856
01:17:42,170 --> 01:17:42,850
recommendation.

857
01:17:42,850 --> 01:17:51,770
And looking at the calendar, it does appear the first meeting of the new term doesn't happen until December 15th, so

858
01:17:51,770 --> 01:17:59,090
thus the bit of the extended process through the normal introduction bill and consideration.

859
01:18:00,050 --> 01:18:07,770
But again, still plenty of time and another between December and January 30 days before public hearing.

860
01:18:08,410 --> 01:18:24,910
So that is the idea that we're looking at as far as trying to bring this forward, while still trying not to get caught, you know, if there's not a, you know, we want to make sure we have these regulations in before there's an application.

861
01:18:25,590 --> 01:18:30,710
Director, take you back on what Council President Miller said is about the fire companies,

862
01:18:31,090 --> 01:18:36,270
some of the people that have the data centers now basically require the data center to donate

863
01:18:36,270 --> 01:18:42,930
to the fire company within their region. That way the county, it's not something that the county's

864
01:18:42,930 --> 01:18:51,850
going to have to pick up. It's a good point. A lot of these data centers, they have fire protection

865
01:18:51,850 --> 01:18:58,390
requirements, they use halogen as a way to not destroy the electrical servers, you know,

866
01:18:58,530 --> 01:19:05,470
from that standpoint. But we realize there's some additional requirements that one of our

867
01:19:05,470 --> 01:19:11,290
volunteer fire companies may have to do. That would be absolutely right on the table of something

868
01:19:11,290 --> 01:19:16,290
that there is specialized equipment that they need. And I don't know of any, but if they do,

869
01:19:16,290 --> 01:19:19,590
that that that applicant's going to pay for?

870
01:19:20,250 --> 01:19:25,830
Well, shouldn't we bring them into the conversation as well here, the department of emergency services?

871
01:19:26,290 --> 01:19:31,310
Sure, I mean, I, I, I know, I know director Campbell knows about these.

872
01:19:31,650 --> 01:19:39,850
He's not raised any red flags on, oh my gosh, we can't do this, we can't, we're, we're, we're not building a battery storage facility where you,

873
01:19:39,850 --> 01:19:45,430
right potentially then how do you how do you put out a lithium battery fire or

874
01:19:45,430 --> 01:19:51,110
something like that they they've dealt with you know buildings that have you

875
01:19:51,110 --> 01:19:56,310
know every I mean we have servers in here okay so if we had a fire in here they

876
01:19:56,310 --> 01:20:02,590
would know how to work with that as well but you know ultimately until we get an

877
01:20:02,590 --> 01:20:07,550
applicant and and the one thing we'll commit to council if if we get an

878
01:20:07,550 --> 01:20:14,050
applicant here in the next six months or year or whatever, and they meet a lot of

879
01:20:14,050 --> 01:20:14,430
requirements.

880
01:20:14,810 --> 01:20:17,490
We're going to ask them to come to county council and talk to you guys.

881
01:20:19,150 --> 01:20:22,910
And then you can get really specific on what are you going to do for the community?

882
01:20:23,090 --> 01:20:23,990
What are you going to do for this?

883
01:20:24,510 --> 01:20:26,290
How are you handling this situation?

884
01:20:26,490 --> 01:20:27,730
How are you going to deal with this?

885
01:20:28,710 --> 01:20:36,130
Yeah, I just know that with the situations that occur at Great Wolf Lodge, what I hear

886
01:20:36,130 --> 01:20:44,010
and what I've heard from day one is that the emergency services team volunteer rescue

887
01:20:44,930 --> 01:20:52,750
paramedics, all of that are there constantly. It's like a revolving door, so it's a strain on them.

888
01:20:53,430 --> 01:20:58,750
Sure it is. We've talked to Perryville, one of the things we had to work out with great

889
01:20:58,750 --> 01:21:02,150
with lodges, they were calling 911 for anything,

890
01:21:02,370 --> 01:21:05,890
whether you know, a visitor there, one in 911,

891
01:21:06,130 --> 01:21:07,250
they were protecting themselves,

892
01:21:07,570 --> 01:21:09,090
but when they were a few service,

893
01:21:09,270 --> 01:21:12,130
I meant they couldn't be reimbursed, couldn't build them.

894
01:21:12,830 --> 01:21:14,590
And we've gotten that work down.

895
01:21:14,990 --> 01:21:18,370
Like you're not gonna just use our 911 system

896
01:21:18,370 --> 01:21:21,750
to, you know, protect your liability insurance.

897
01:21:22,210 --> 01:21:24,730
This is gonna be, you know, you call us, you're gonna pay.

898
01:21:25,070 --> 01:21:27,970
I think I'll say that the original agreement

899
01:21:27,970 --> 01:21:29,130
It was great with lodge.

900
01:21:31,290 --> 01:21:34,610
It's a good learning experience for us.

901
01:21:35,530 --> 01:21:37,170
To make sure that.

902
01:21:38,750 --> 01:21:40,490
We don't give away the farm again.

903
01:21:42,390 --> 01:21:44,010
So certainly the lessons.

904
01:21:44,410 --> 01:21:44,850
And we did.

905
01:21:44,950 --> 01:21:45,970
We talked with Perry, though.

906
01:21:46,130 --> 01:21:46,890
We're aware of all that.

907
01:21:47,750 --> 01:21:48,230
Councilwoman.

908
01:21:48,430 --> 01:21:49,290
You hit the nail in the head.

909
01:21:49,610 --> 01:21:50,310
Those are all.

910
01:21:50,590 --> 01:21:51,670
All very true.

911
01:21:52,590 --> 01:21:54,790
So, you know, my administration.

912
01:21:55,210 --> 01:21:57,910
Going forward with with really anything that we're doing.

913
01:21:57,910 --> 01:22:12,350
is to try to learn from mistakes of the past and try to improve on them to make sure that we get the best deal or anything that we do for Cecil County and for our folks here, so.

914
01:22:12,870 --> 01:22:19,070
Okay, and I guess I will just finish where I started.

915
01:22:19,070 --> 01:22:25,530
The best time to establish the rules is before a project is asking us to apply them.

916
01:22:26,150 --> 01:22:29,030
Objective is neither to promote nor prohibit them.

917
01:22:30,070 --> 01:22:32,710
Our job here is to make sure Cecil County is prepared.

918
01:22:34,770 --> 01:22:40,440
So we've already started with some questions, but I'll be happy to take any more questions.

919
01:22:41,100 --> 01:22:42,780
I have one follow-ups.

920
01:22:43,300 --> 01:22:48,300
Director Edwards said about the employment, the jobs, and it's in the construction phase.

921
01:22:48,300 --> 01:22:51,020
and then the upkeep of landscaping, things like that.

922
01:22:51,540 --> 01:22:54,120
It is my understanding that an actual data center

923
01:22:54,580 --> 01:22:58,100
after it's built does not employ many people.

924
01:22:59,440 --> 01:23:00,580
So, I mean, after the fact,

925
01:23:00,740 --> 01:23:03,040
I feel like it would be this compared to,

926
01:23:03,040 --> 01:23:05,560
let's say, the construction of an Amazon facility.

927
01:23:05,780 --> 01:23:08,460
There's a lot of people involved, contractors, subcontractors,

928
01:23:08,460 --> 01:23:10,780
and then there's the upkeep of the outside and the inside.

929
01:23:11,660 --> 01:23:13,500
They employ a lot of people,

930
01:23:13,760 --> 01:23:15,520
but the data center would not.

931
01:23:16,060 --> 01:23:16,660
That's correct.

932
01:23:16,660 --> 01:23:27,520
But the jobs that are created are going to be more technology forward, higher paying jobs.

933
01:23:32,770 --> 01:23:49,430
So, to add to Councilwoman Branch's comment, I would say I would like to see that, specifically, that contractors in county contractors, or at least within the maybe tri-county area, so that we are keeping

934
01:23:49,430 --> 01:23:59,870
that local, but I also want to talk about the revenue stream of this. So I know

935
01:23:59,870 --> 01:24:04,090
that the there's a large opportunity from these from an increase in tax

936
01:24:04,090 --> 01:24:09,470
dollars and the idea is that they don't have a large burden then on us outside of

937
01:24:09,470 --> 01:24:18,630
potentially the fire services. So to that though, I'd get concerned that if we

938
01:24:18,630 --> 01:24:26,090
start because I am all for lowering taxes, right, but I get concerned about if we start

939
01:24:26,090 --> 01:24:34,310
using that as a replacement, rather than using it, like, I know we need to get our roads

940
01:24:34,310 --> 01:24:38,690
caught up, you know, infrastructure. I mean, there's an opportunity that we're saying,

941
01:24:38,690 --> 01:24:41,770
hey, if you want to come in, you're going to build us a school because we have so many

942
01:24:41,770 --> 01:24:46,650
of our elementary school, specifically, that really need improvements and replaced.

943
01:24:48,050 --> 01:24:54,150
I think there's, I would rather see that revenue, I think, spent on more of the capital

944
01:24:54,150 --> 01:25:02,250
aspect that gets us maybe caught up to where we want to be, that then helps us grow economically

945
01:25:02,250 --> 01:25:08,010
in other avenues, rather than just supplementing it from a, like, the regular tax base, because

946
01:25:08,010 --> 01:25:10,970
Because my concern is that we start relying on that.

947
01:25:11,490 --> 01:25:20,070
One of those data center leaves that revenue drops, and now it's to continue providing those,

948
01:25:20,770 --> 01:25:27,770
you either have to continue providing for the citizens, you're either going to have to cut expenses or race taxes.

949
01:25:28,070 --> 01:25:32,270
And that's what I, I don't want us to get into that, you know, avenue down the road.

950
01:25:32,270 --> 01:25:40,830
I agree with you 100% and I think the key word I've used before is balance.

951
01:25:41,710 --> 01:25:42,670
What is the balance?

952
01:25:42,890 --> 01:25:48,030
What's the holistic approach that's the best deal for us?

953
01:25:48,250 --> 01:25:54,430
So I'm with you 100% on that councilwoman, I don't think that we're looking at revenue

954
01:25:55,100 --> 01:26:00,110
just to any one thing whether it's lowering taxes, whether it's infrastructure, whether

955
01:26:00,110 --> 01:26:07,290
its economic development, is this revenue going to help us get closer to the place that

956
01:26:07,290 --> 01:26:13,950
we need to be, that is going to benefit all of us, and each of those things are important,

957
01:26:15,030 --> 01:26:20,950
but none of those things are the end all to be all, so with, you know, again, it becomes

958
01:26:20,950 --> 01:26:27,990
a balanced, a holistic approach, and, you know, between my administration and the council,

959
01:26:27,990 --> 01:26:33,470
So whoever counts a member sits there, you know, what's the best way going forward?

960
01:26:34,030 --> 01:26:37,890
Because none of us are going to, I mean, none of us are going to be here forever.

961
01:26:38,130 --> 01:26:44,510
Everything that we do, we're doing for the betterment of our kids, our grain kids, our grain

962
01:26:44,510 --> 01:26:45,070
kids.

963
01:26:45,570 --> 01:26:49,390
The people are going behind us and the one thing I don't want, I don't think any of us

964
01:26:49,390 --> 01:26:56,390
wants, is for people in the future to look back and say, man, that was pretty short-sighted

965
01:26:56,390 --> 01:26:57,870
We're paying the price for it now.

966
01:26:58,450 --> 01:27:00,050
So that's always in the back of our mind.

967
01:27:00,070 --> 01:27:01,450
I know it's in the back of your mind.

968
01:27:01,730 --> 01:27:03,590
So I'm with the 100% on that.

969
01:27:03,790 --> 01:27:07,550
And the other thing that I think all of us would agree on

970
01:27:07,550 --> 01:27:11,170
is you do know that the state is looking,

971
01:27:11,530 --> 01:27:12,350
they have a task force.

972
01:27:13,390 --> 01:27:17,410
And the task force is to educate counties

973
01:27:17,410 --> 01:27:20,390
on how we can raise revenue, okay?

974
01:27:21,290 --> 01:27:23,990
To pay for their spending, all right?

975
01:27:23,990 --> 01:27:42,490
That's where we're at today, and we're coming up to a budget season that they're going to, it's not going to be $1.7 million of pension benefits and some Estat money, it's probably going to be a big, big hit.

976
01:27:42,830 --> 01:27:46,030
And it probably is not going to end this year, okay.

977
01:27:46,030 --> 01:27:56,730
So, you know, as a responsible county government, we have to look at revenue sources to not only pay those bills, but, you know, pay our own bills, you know, moving forward.

978
01:27:57,810 --> 01:28:07,230
So, you know, if we had a robust economy in the state of Maryland and we had plenty of power and it, you know, it'll be a lot easier to say, we really don't need these things.

979
01:28:07,230 --> 01:28:15,250
We're in a good shape here, but we just have to be sure that, okay, we're going to plan effectively.

980
01:28:15,790 --> 01:28:23,630
We're going to put ourselves in a good position to say if we get one of these data center down the road,

981
01:28:23,830 --> 01:28:28,950
we know where we're going to place it, it's going to fit well, and potentially be the kind of

982
01:28:28,950 --> 01:28:33,290
income-producing economic development project that we want, that we all want.

983
01:28:33,290 --> 01:28:42,870
Right, I agree, but two points there is we, first of all, constituents.

984
01:28:44,160 --> 01:28:46,470
We need to also consider our constituents.

985
01:28:47,410 --> 01:28:55,730
And secondly, just because we bring in a data center or any other big company that's

986
01:28:55,730 --> 01:29:00,390
going to generate a lot of revenue, it doesn't mean they're going to be here forever.

987
01:29:01,390 --> 01:29:30,290
So we have to also take that into consideration and not place all of our eggs in one basket so to speak and say, OK, now we're going to rely on this, this company to pay the expenses of getting our roads up to speed or this one can pay their taxes are going to help us pay for building a new school or whatever the case.

988
01:29:30,290 --> 01:29:40,750
is. So I think we have to be, try to be optimistic, but also cautious. So that we don't mind

989
01:29:40,750 --> 01:29:49,830
yourself in an unwanted thick of it. Sandra in her team has done a fantastic job of looking

990
01:29:49,830 --> 01:29:59,530
at a diverse system of economic development, revenue generating. That doesn't increase

991
01:29:59,530 --> 01:29:59,970
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

992
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:29,220
The, the, the burden, whether tax or otherwise on our citizens, so 100% you should never, you should never do that because as, as we saw, the housing bubble, we saw with the dot com bubble. These bubbles burst. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Just like your retirement fund, your whatever, you, you're always protected when you have a diverse portfolio. So that's, this is just, it's just one thing that we're looking at. We want to be prepared for it.

993
01:30:29,220 --> 01:30:39,260
But Sandra certainly gets that in and she's not any wonderful job of helping us with this road map of getting the where we need to be so

994
01:30:40,540 --> 01:30:43,940
Just to confirm so the timeline presented the

995
01:30:45,200 --> 01:30:49,880
Introduction to council is after the new council

996
01:30:50,700 --> 01:30:55,500
Starts is that correct so the new council because we know there's gonna be at least two new members

997
01:30:57,360 --> 01:31:06,260
the new council will have an opportunity to weigh in on this as well during the process.

998
01:31:07,440 --> 01:31:07,580
Yes.

999
01:31:07,940 --> 01:31:08,080
Okay.

1000
01:31:08,920 --> 01:31:16,180
But again, I would also add, we have current members, all current members have a chance to weigh in as well.

1001
01:31:17,020 --> 01:31:18,100
I appreciate it.

1002
01:31:18,400 --> 01:31:19,700
Even though I don't get to vote on it.

1003
01:31:19,700 --> 01:31:25,620
so they go, hey, they covered everything. Exactly. We just started this a few months ago.

1004
01:31:26,700 --> 01:31:31,300
We're certainly instead of rushing something through. I just wanted to make sure because I think

1005
01:31:31,300 --> 01:31:39,060
when I came on four years ago, there were things on like to actually vote on that evening and it was

1006
01:31:39,060 --> 01:31:45,420
like you didn't really have an opportunity to actually really like ask questions and dig into it and

1007
01:31:45,420 --> 01:31:48,640
you know, provide any feedback because it was, yeah, you're

1008
01:31:48,640 --> 01:31:49,240
nay that night.

1009
01:31:49,300 --> 01:31:54,320
Yeah, we have December 15th is the introduction of first council

1010
01:31:54,320 --> 01:31:57,400
meeting with the new council at the end of trucks.

1011
01:31:57,400 --> 01:32:01,200
We still have a public hearing and then a vote later in February.

1012
01:32:01,680 --> 01:32:01,840
Okay.

1013
01:32:02,100 --> 01:32:05,740
I think there's ample time, particularly if there's something

1014
01:32:05,740 --> 01:32:10,600
somebody coming in new says, wow, I guys totally forgot this.

1015
01:32:12,040 --> 01:32:19,360
And we're very, I'm very thankful to see a potential member of our new council here

1016
01:32:19,360 --> 01:32:29,300
sitting through this in certainly Mr. Kong or any questions that you have for us, we're,

1017
01:32:29,320 --> 01:32:37,620
you know, we're open in any input that you would have as a sitting council member when

1018
01:32:37,620 --> 01:32:45,040
And that happens or that happens on December 7th, we're going to be into consideration along

1019
01:32:45,040 --> 01:32:46,840
with the other councilman.

1020
01:32:47,020 --> 01:32:52,740
We want the whole purpose of this is to get everybody involved, be transparent and make

1021
01:32:52,740 --> 01:32:56,840
sure that the process we have going forward is the right one.

1022
01:32:57,480 --> 01:32:57,540
So.

1023
01:32:59,430 --> 01:33:00,470
And who knows?

1024
01:33:00,690 --> 01:33:04,410
By December, January, February, things could be different.

1025
01:33:04,410 --> 01:33:12,770
As far as the whole process, you know, as far as data centers go, so new people coming

1026
01:33:12,770 --> 01:33:20,230
in could have brand new questions related to new systems or new requirements or anything.

1027
01:33:20,650 --> 01:33:28,630
So also with that legislative session doesn't start until January, if this is voted on

1028
01:33:28,630 --> 01:33:35,270
in February. Nothing can actually really happen until we see what happens with that session

1029
01:33:35,270 --> 01:33:37,430
and that bill anyway, correct? Okay.

1030
01:33:40,400 --> 01:33:41,580
That'll be interesting.

1031
01:33:42,200 --> 01:33:47,740
Any other questions or comments? No. Thank you very much. Thank you for having us.

1032
01:33:47,940 --> 01:33:53,600
Thank you. I do want to take the liberty to say that I got sent the resolution 39, 20,

1033
01:33:53,600 --> 01:34:00,180
26 that's going to be on the ballot. So thank you very much. So remember we all need to push

1034
01:34:00,180 --> 01:34:09,120
that to keep our administration going. So we're thinking you and I yeah middle of we'll come

1035
01:34:09,120 --> 01:34:16,080
up with something I'll get with myself but we're thinking metal of October or something just to

1036
01:34:16,080 --> 01:34:22,660
get out what this is and what it's not and then the information for the citizens to make

1037
01:34:28,480 --> 01:34:33,160
That is exactly what I'm telling people who ask me.

1038
01:34:35,400 --> 01:34:37,060
So council manager report.

1039
01:34:37,380 --> 01:34:45,040
The report is in your packet as well as I wanted to let you know at a previous meeting council

1040
01:34:45,040 --> 01:34:50,180
woman Colberton had asked for an update on family violence services from community services

1041
01:34:50,180 --> 01:34:54,000
and they've scheduled that for the October 13th work session.

1042
01:34:54,620 --> 01:34:54,680
Okay.

1043
01:34:55,540 --> 01:34:58,800
And then also just as kind of a housekeeping.

1044
01:34:59,300 --> 01:35:04,860
Cecil County School of Technology, National Honor Society inductees ceremonies on October 29th.

1045
01:35:05,120 --> 01:35:07,740
And that's going to involve 67 inductees.

1046
01:35:08,600 --> 01:35:13,980
So we're going to, we need to get in front of that and print out all of those certificates and so forth.

1047
01:35:14,200 --> 01:35:16,960
Do any of you have an issue with signing them physically?

1048
01:35:16,960 --> 01:35:21,920
Will you have an issue with us, e-signing, what is your thought process?

1049
01:35:24,180 --> 01:35:24,980
We're good to go.

1050
01:35:25,700 --> 01:35:25,800
Okay.

1051
01:35:26,160 --> 01:35:26,500
All righty.

1052
01:35:26,640 --> 01:35:33,440
And I did find out from Jessica Whirley at the September 30th candidate forum.

1053
01:35:33,800 --> 01:35:41,660
They're also going to bring the ballot question up and let everybody at present know about the ballot question and so forth.

1054
01:35:41,660 --> 01:35:44,160
And I think that she's going to try to put it in the program as well.

1055
01:35:44,500 --> 01:35:45,040
That's great.

1056
01:35:45,040 --> 01:35:55,280
Okay. Thank you. Very good. Council member items. I have one and Sandra left. But I want

1057
01:35:55,280 --> 01:35:59,860
to tell our congratulations on our new employee Rachel coffee to the ag coordinator position

1058
01:35:59,860 --> 01:36:04,360
in Cecil County. I was at Farm Bureau meeting last night and they didn't all stand up

1059
01:36:04,360 --> 01:36:10,260
but they all clapped. And that's a big plus. So kudos to the committee for what they did

1060
01:36:10,260 --> 01:36:16,140
then could look to Rachel. She's going to do great things in Cecil County. So with

1061
01:36:16,140 --> 01:36:23,100
that, I'll ask for a motion to adjourn. So vote second. All in favor say aye. Opposed,

1062
01:36:23,280 --> 01:36:29,080
meetings adjourned. The next work session will be scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at

1063
01:36:29,080 --> 01:36:32,940
430 to County Administration Building. Everybody have a good evening. Thanks for coming out.

1064
01:36:33,880 --> 01:36:36,320
any adjourned. Yeah, right come around. So you can